(55ap) Engineered Solutions for Effective Flare System Analysis

Relief and flare system documentation is an important part of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Process Safety Management (PSM) 29 CFR 1910.119. Flare system analysis (sizing or rating) can be performed using commercially available software. Effective flare system analysis requires reliable Process Safety Information (PSI) such as process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs), relief system evaluation, Heat and Material Balance (H&MB), relief valve data sheets, isometrics, and disposal system loads. Good engineering methodologies can be implemented to effectively design header systems and rate existing header for any change. Some methodologies include use of dynamic simulation to predict realistic relief loads, reboiler pinch analysis for applicable systems, and selection of global relief scenarios. This paper will describes some methodologies and a combination of instrumented systems for effective flare system analysis. Effective flare analysis helps save capital expenditure spent on flare headers and possible flare load reduction yields reduced radiation footprint on a facility.